dirty, or in pleasant -- unpleasant are referred to as cheap labor. labor falln farm short and is supplemented by mexican nationals. the term most commonly used is brusseros. it means a man who works with his arms and hands in mexican. film, reducedute by the council of california raceros, promoted the b program. sunday morning at 10:00 eastern on road to the white house rewind -- theylot of people realized have overstated in afghanistan. they have bitten off more than in my judgment they should be

11:51 am

allowed, and i think that the best answer to it is for them to know that the united states is going to keep its commitment. >> i agree completely. where people want to be free, under soviet or cuban domination, the united states should be willing to provide weapons to any men that want to fight for their freedom against those hostile forces. >> the 1980 texas republican primary debate between former california governor ronald reagan and george h w bush. at 6:00 on american artifacts -- the last ofing is the classical building. it is very near lot -- neoclassical. the dirksen building is nearly a mirror image of a classical building. some people have compared it to a large ice cube tray, a very

11:52 am

different looking building. us insidechie takes the three senate office buildings. senate office building to learn about its construction and place in construction history. on the presidency at 8:00, senior historian david ward chronicles abraham lincoln's life through photographs and portraits. lincolnher exasperated takes time out to write an inaugural address to sit for this last photograph, in which he does look kind of peevish. you will notice the eyes are superior, this sense that lincoln is present with the public in his suffering. schedule, american tv goody c-span.org. >> the queen mary ocean liner took its maiden voyage in 1936. after years of service, it was

11:53 am

relocated to the port of long beach in 1967 and is now a floating hotel. our charting communications partners worked with c-span and we traveled to long beach to learn more about its history. learn more about long beach on american history tv. >> so this is from the townson later on september 30 1933. dr. townsend writes, our attitude towards government is wrong. we look upon government as something entirely foreign to ourselves and something over which we have no control, and cannot expect to do us a great deal of good. -- but theealize fact is, we must learn to expect

11:54 am

and demand that the central government assumed the duty of regulating business activity. when business begins to slow down and capital shows signs of timidity, stimulus must be provided by the federal government in terms of additional capital. when times are good and show a speculative recovery such as we saw in 1929, the brakes must be in the to a reduction function of government should be easily established and maintained for the pension system for the aged. in the early years of the great compression test depression, many -- great depression, many banks collapsed. when you have your life savings in a bank that collapses, you lose everything. there was no recourse. you have people living in long beach, sleeping in the streets, sleeping on the park benches, scrounging for food, a desperate situation, and there seemed to be no help.

11:55 am

most of the help was going to younger men and younger people with families, and that makes sense in a certain way. of the long beach press telegram from september 1933 we find on september 30 a letter from a long beach resident, dr. frances townsend. he proposed that every american over the age of 60 should get a check from the federal government every month and the only proviso is that you would have to spend that money every month, you cannot save it. the idea of the safety net for older citizens and it would provide an income for older americans. they could spend the income every month and that would generate jobs for local areas. this became known as the townsend plan. the townsend plan caught fire. within two years, townson was touring the united states in townsend clubs, millions of

11:56 am

americans -- older americans paid dues to townsend. he became a major political figure. this is 1933, the era of small government. the federal government was much smaller. course, this is the issue about the great depression and the new deal. this is why franklin roosevelt was regarded as a controversial president, government did not routinely stepped in and help people who found themselves in severe economic crisis or national emergency. it was not a tradition yet in d.c.,a that washington, or a state capital responding with money and help in case of a tragedy. you are really left to work it out on your own. there were floods, fires, crises, charity groups stepped in and local groups stepped in and they took things -- took care of things by themselves.

11:57 am

this was a radical proposal and people really criticized it, both republican and democrat. the roosevelt administration 1935, inthat in 1934, 1936 that frances townsend represented a political threat because if you have millions of alive, -- old americans that might be a threat in terms of getting their votes. so franklin d. roosevelt's response was to fly the force of the townsend plan by offering his own solution to the plan, and that is the emergence of the social security plan. it did in fact blunt townsend's remained augh he viable political figure for the next couple of years. the threat coming from dr. townsend began to dissipate with the emergence of social security in the middle 30's, and the rest is history.

11:58 am

now they are the most important plans that people rely on in the united states. while people criticize the security, this is been around for more than seven decades. this came into existence largely guyuse the ideas of one walking around the streets of long beach who did not like what he saw. it just goes to show you how important a single idea can go. this is not unusual. about thehink populist party of the 1880's and 1890's, or huey long in 1930's,

11:59 am

or other people who have important ideas become part of the american fabric. this is not unusual. it is interesting to see how these things develop. our cities to where staff recently traveled to long beach, california to learn about its rich history. learn more about long beach and other stops at c-span.org/cities tour. you are watching american history tv, each weekend, every weekend. >> i am a history buff. i do enjoy seeing the fabric of our country and just how they work and how they are made. >> is a fantastic show. had no idea that history was something i really enjoy. >> american history tv gives you that perspective. >> i am a c-span fan.

12:00 pm

>> coming up next, the second part of a series of lectures on abraham lincoln's legacy. posted by the university of illinois college of law. last week, we heard from washington post journalist bob woodward who reflected on abraham lincoln and the 16th president's influence on his successors. up next, columnist george will looks at judicial review and the constitution. he argues as he put it that , majority rule is inevitable but not inevitably reasonable. a concept he believed lincoln supported. this is an hour. host: a splendid institution where i am honored to serve as dean. i'm pleased to welcome you here to theit